Cross-chest buckle for parachute harness



Nov. 28, 1950 JUNKER 2,531,442

CROSS-CHEST BUCKLE FOR PARACHUTE HARNESS Filed 001;. 25, 1948 FIG. 3

-/ RALPH 0. JUN/(ER v 254, f%: f,

Patented Nov. 28, 1950 CROSS-CHEST BUCKLE FOR PARACHUTE HARNESS 1 RalphDi Junker, Ansonia, Conn. Application October 25,'1948,"Serial No.56,324

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 3700. G. 757) at Claims.

The present invention relates to a buckle for a parachute harness andmore particularly to a cross-chest buckle for a parachute harnessespecially of the seat-service type.

A conventional parachute harness of the seatservice type must be quicklyattachable and quickly adjustable and generally comprises a pair ofrisers to keep the shoulder straps in position, the risers beingconnected by a cross-chest buckle. It has been found that the use ofknown crosschest buckles with this type of harness has resulted ininjury by gouging to the wearer due to the turning of the buckle at anangle to the body of the wearer when the buckle is stressed.Furthermore, it has been difi'icult to retain the buckles in positionwithout tacking, thus making it virtually impossible to provide foradjustment of the harness at this point.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is the provision of across-chest buckle for a parachute harness which reduces to a minimumpressures on the chest of the wearer with nor mal wearing and chuteopening impactn Another object is to provide a cross-chest buckle for aparachute harness which remains in position without tacking but iseasily adjustable.

A further object is to provide a cross-chest buckle for a parachute.harness which affords maximum protection from accidental shoulder strapdislocation.

Other objects and features of the invention will become apparent as thedisclosure is made in the following detailed description of a preferredembodiment of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying sheets ofdrawings in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation illustrating the crosschest buckle andharness in position.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the cross-chest buckle connection of Fig. l;and p Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the cross-chest buckle connection.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference charactersdesignate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views,there is shown in Fig. 1 a parachute harness I l comprising front bodystraps I2, leg straps l 3, and shoule der straps l4, straps It beinginterconnected by the cross-chest buckle l5.

Buckle l5, shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3, comprises a. pair ofunitary adapters or risers It adapted to be slidably connected toshoulder straps H as shown in Fig. 1. Each riser is preferably made ofcast steel and consists of a generally rectangular frame I! having acentral longitudinal bar I 8 extending thereacross to form a pair ofelongated slots l9. If desired, a metal loop 2|, preferably of caststeel may be secured to frame I! to provide means for attachment ofpararaft equipment.

Secured to one riser It, as by means of welding, for example, is a snaphook 22, preferably made of cast steel except for the safety lock andcover thereon. Hook 22 is positioned in a plane substantially parallelto that of riser [6 but slightly thereabove. Secured to the other riserI6 is a ring 23, preferably of cast steel, positioned in a planesubstantially perpendicular to that of its riser, substantially allof.ring 23 being positioned above the plane of the riser [6 as shown inFig. 3.

From this construction it can readily be seen that the buckle will beflat against the chest of the wearer with the risers being adjacent thebody, thereby acting as a cushion to take the bulk of the pressureexerted. This arrangement therefore reduces to a minimum the pressure onthe chest of the wearer resulting from both normal wearing and fromimpact due to chute opening. Furthermore, since the risers and bucklelie substantially flat against the chest of the wearer and do not turnat an angle to the body when stressed, substantially all possibility ofinjury due to gouging has been eliminated.

Various modifications and uses are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to by those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention, as hereinafter defined by theappended claims, as only a preferred embodiment thereof has beendisclosed.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or forthe Government of the United States of America for governmental purposeswithout the payment of royalties thereon or therefor.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a parachute harness having a pair of shoulderstraps, a cross-chest buckle'comprising a riser slidably mounted on eachof said straps, a snap hook secured to one of the risers and positionedin a plane substantially parallel to that of said one riser, and a ringfor detachable engagement with said hook secured to the other of therisers, said ring being positioned in a plane substantiallyperpendicular to that of said other riser.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein said hook and said ringare positioned above the planes of said risers.

3. A cross-chest buckle for a parachute harness comprising a pair ofsubstantially aligned risers, a hook integral with one of said risersand positioned in a plane substantially parallel to and above that ofsaid one riser, and a ring integral with the other of said risers andpositioned in a plane substantially perpendicular to that of said otherriser, said hook being adapted to detachably engage said ring, and thelowest extremity of said ring being positioned above the lower end ofsaid other riser.

4. A detachable buckle comprising a pair of risers, a snap hook integralwith one of said risers and positioned in a plane substantially parallelto that of said one riser, and a ring integral with the other of saidrisers and positioned in a plane substantially perpendicular to that ofsaid other riser, said hook detachably engaging said ring and said hookand said ring being positioned above the planes of said risers,respectively.

RALPH D. JUNKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Great Britain Sept. 26, 1938

